Are you stressed? How about afraid, lonely, nervous, exhausted, and/or depressed? Do you just want something to believe in again? Well, I have just the show for you (and for me, because I’m also all of those things).
Let me introduce you to The Repair Shop, an incredibly soul-soothing television show from the BBC. The concept is simple: Artisans fix up old, beloved things. In each episode, three people bring in heirlooms that are broken or need some TLC, and specialty experts restore them. That’s it. The Repair Shop is one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever seen, and it just got added to YouTube in its entirety — all 306 episodes.
YES. THREE HUNDRED AND SIX EPISODES OF GOOD VIBES. FOR FREE.
Why Is The Repair Shop So Good?
There’s so much I could say about The Repair Shop and why it works.
First, the vibes. The Repair Shop is filmed in an old, beautiful barn at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in the south of England. Similar to The Great British Bake-Off (or The Great British Baking Show, as it’s known in the U.S. for some dumb reason), interstitial b-roll of birds, trees, and flowers invokes pastoral calm. There’s gentle instrumental music over close-ups of wood carving, metal polishing, and clock-fixing.
Second, the artisans. These people are absolutely incredible. They are kind, talented, and clever. There’s the foreman, Jay Blades, a charming man who warmly welcomes everyone, provides insights and help to experts, and gently tells visitors that it’s “okay to cry” when receiving their restored items. Steven Fletcher handles clocks and mechanical toys with gusto; later, he brings his badass sister, leather-worker Suzie Fletcher to the barn. Young people, like woodworker Will Kirk, metalworker Dominic Chinea, and upholster Sonnaz Nooranvary, bring laughter, inspiration, and skill. Ceramicist Kirsten Ramsey is one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen (I’ll include a short video further below so you can see what I mean).
I’ve come to “know” the team at The Repair Shop. My partner and I have inside jokes based on the artisans’ quips and habits. There’s around a dozen standards in the barn, and then thirty rotating experts who come in for special projects — like one of the last master coopers (barrel-making) in Britain. I cheer whenever one of my recurring favorites appears on screen. When a new maker shows up, we excitedly look at each other — what magic will we see now?! The show is also quietly diverse, in a way that is deeply reassuring and welcoming.
Third, the whole mission of the show. In the early seasons, the opening credits include a narration explaining what The Repair Shop is and clips of interviews with the artisans. They talk about how we live in a commercial, fast-made culture where cheap things are not made to last. They reflect how we have an opportunity, as people, to treasure and restore beloved things. It’s a refreshing perspective, and ever since I first started watching the show, it’s made me think about what I buy and how I use it.
The values of The Repair Shop are inspiring. There’s an emphasis that skills should be honed and honored, that trades are worth learning and appreciating. There’s no prizes or anything like that (as an American watching television, pretty much every reality show here is structured around some kind of reward). The experts are found through social media — so, sometimes, they’re endearingly a little awkward on camera. No one is ever charged for the repair of their heirlooms. And, spoiler alert, the artisans always repair what they bring. It is nice to know that, at the end of the day, something good will happen.
And last but not least — it’s just good storytelling. You likely will cry (unless you’re a monster) — but they’ll be good, happy tears. Like when an old widower brings in a portable radio that he bought with his wife when they first started dating decades ago, but it stopped working shortly after she died. Or when a mom gets the family’s well-kept teddy bear repaired and altered so she can bring it internationally (past customs that would’ve denied its original wood fillings) to her newly born granddaughter. Then there’s the whole village that beams when the town square clock gets fixed up, throwing a party. There are hundreds of beautiful moments like this — wedding rings, pub signs, armchairs, toys, paintings, pinball machines, vases, tables, books, historic documents, and more. Each one opens up a beautiful story, inviting us to remember and to persevere.
The Repair Shop — Stream for Free on YouTube!
The Repair Shop is now available to stream for free on YouTube in the U.S. as of spring 2025. I’m so relieved!
Some episodes were, for a time, available on the platform during early parts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is when I first started watching it. I was on a one-week trip to a cabin in the woods, and I desperately needed some happy content to keep the gloom at bay. I had read an op-ed about a woman who had watched it with her mother during a difficult week (I can’t find the article now, sadly) and so I decided to give it a try. I was immediately hooked.
I obsessively watched every episode of The Repair Shop I could find on the internet, but most seasons (a.k.a. “series” in the UK) were tough to find. I even paid for a whole streaming service for a time, Discovery+, simply to watch this show — until it was removed from there, too. I was willing to buy DVDs (remember those?) but they were made for Region 2 devices (used throughout Europe and the Middle East, as well as Japan and South Africa). I’ll be honest, I even thought about buying a whole different DVD player but they were expensive and not promised to work. When Jay Blades published a memoir, I bought it immediately and speed-read it.
Truthfully, I have been a bit heartbroken these past few years without The Repair Shop. Until now, when someone decided to add good into the world by putting incredible show on YouTube. The Repair Shop has been made since 2017, going for fourteen seasons (multiple sessions a year), and it has been renewed again. Early episodes were 30 minutes long. Then, they were given 45 minutes. Now, this goodness lasts a whole hour.
With The Repair Shop online for free, my life now has a whole new chapter — just like these beautiful items. And once you watch it, so will you. You’re welcome.
Watch The Repair Shop on YouTube here (https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepairShop/playlists) going season by season or picking out any episode that feels exciting to you! If you need a good starter episode, try this one from Series 1.
If you’re looking for wholesome, cozy video games, check out our list “The 19 Best Cozy Video Games (and Why the Genre Works).”
Amanda Tien (she/her or they) loves video games where she can pet dogs, punch bad guys, make friends, and have a good cry. She started writing for the site in 2020, and became an editor in 2022. She enjoys writing about mystery games, indies, and strong femme protagonists. Her work has also been published in Unwinnable Monthly (click here to read her cover feature on Nancy Drew games), Salt Hill Journal, Poets.org, Litro Magazine, Public Books, and more. She was the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Columbia University's Culinarian Magazine, and served for two years as the Managing Editor of Aster(ix) Literary Journal. She recently graduated with a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Her writing, art, graphic design, and marketing work can be viewed at www.amandatien.com. She does not post a lot on social, but you can find her on X and on Instagram.
